This great book has all the elements of a classic Stephen King novel: 1) good vs. evil; 2) something supernatural; and 3) both weird and oddly believable.  Stephen King who is one of my favorite authors began this book in 1981, and finished it in 1985. It is over 1,000 pages long (on audio book it is about 44 hours of listening)! It took me about a month to read, but it is well worth the time!

The first time I read this book was in 1998, when I was 15 years old.  Actually, I believe that this book was my introduction to the world of Stephen King — and I can honestly say, that I have loved everything I have read from this story weaving genius.  I have not had the opportunity to read all of his books (there are so many!), but It stands out there on a golden limb, together with other classic Stephen King books like Carrie and the Shining.

It tells the story of 7 children growing up in a fictional place called Derry Maine.  I was doing a little background research for this book in order to write this blog post, and I am excited to report that there are Stephen King tours given in Bangor Maine!  Apparently, Derry is based on Bangor Maine.  In case you are new to Stephen King, he has lived in Maine for a long time and it serves as the inspiration and location of many of his books.

Anyway, a malevolent other worldly / other dimensional being has called Derry home for a long time. Every 27 years it awakes and feeds on the town’s people, although it mostly goes after only the children.  This being, sometimes referred to as “Pennywise the Clown”,  has the ability to see into the deepest, darkest recesses of the mind.  It then uses the thing that the children are most afraid of (whether it be Frankenstein or a werewolf , etc) to terrorize them and consume their life-force in its “deadlights”.  In the 1950’s, during It’s period of feeding, the 7 children take It on, ending the reign of terror early.

27 years later in the 1980’s, the children are now adults, and It has come back. On the strength of the bond created as children, these adults come back to Maine to fight It again, hopefully for the last time.

At its core, this book is about the friendship and love of 7 misfits, who found their place among each other, and who, as adults, tapped into that love and friendship to defeat the ultimate evil.

Check out this book on Goodreads: It http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830502.It

Buy this book here on Amazon.